The following policies all relate to grades, grading and late dates. Please view canvas for your actual grades in the course.
Grade Assignment
The assignment of letter grades will be made as follows:
| Letter Grade | Points |
|---|---|
| A | ≥ 90% |
| B | ≥ 80% |
| C | ≥ 70% |
| D | ≥ 60% |
| F | < 60% |
In general, we will not assign lower grades than shown. We reserve the right to change the grading cut lines.
Point Distribution
| Activity | Weight |
|---|---|
| Reading Assignments | 0% |
| Formative Assessments (Labs, Practicals, Exams 1-3) | 60% |
| Summative Assessments (P5, Final Exam) | 40% |
Grade complaints will be considered only for two weeks immediately following when the assignment grade appears on Canvas!
You will also want to view our information on due dates and accommodations.
Assignment Categories
Reading Assignments
Reading assignments are ungraded, but essential for your learning.
Reading assignments are to be done in zyBooks and are meant to be done before the associated lecture. Additionally, for the next assignment to open in the module (labs, practicals, quizzes, exams), you must first complete the associated reading. The readings often start out longer at the start of the semester, but decrease in length when we return to topics.
To complete a reading, use the link in Canvas every time you login instea of going directly to zyBooks. Due dates for the assignments are in Canvas and are the night before the associated lecture.
Accommodation Window / Resubmissions
Reading assignments are ungraded. However, to retake a formative assessment exam,
you have to show 100% in reading assignments. As such, we track the grade for that reason.
Formative Assessments
Learning is difficult and mistakes are part of the process. Formative assessments
are ones you can redo until you get it right! They are broken up as follows:
Knowledge Checks & In-class
Knowledge Checks and in-class activities supplement the lecture, by interweaving recall and instruction with the lecture content. In-class is only available in-class, and not able to be made up. Knowledge checks are available on Canvas, required to progress with content, and may be redone as many times as possible until finals week.
Accommodation Window / Resubmissions
In-class activities cannot be made-up. Knowledge checks may be resubmitted
as many times as you want until the end of the semester.
Study Suggestion
You should go back to older knowledge checks each week, and interweave your study
habits. For example: during week four, pick a knowledge check from 1, 2, and 3 to
redo. This will help solidify content and help with retention of information.
Labs
Labs are a major component in learning coding content and designed with variation and interweaving of topics in mind. They are meant to be done after the lectures, so the structure is reading -> lecture + labs. Most labs are worth 4 points.
Accommodation Window / Resubmissions
You can run in development mode as many times as you want, and you may
also submit for grading whenever you are ready.
For accommodations, the resubmission window takes into account most accommodations, as it will allow anywhere from 3 days to 15 weeks of extra time. While the expected time is the due date in Canvas, we understand that everyone can occasionally need accommodations, so having this resubmission window helps show competency at your own rate.
Practicals
Your practical assignments are what would traditionally be called homework assignments outside of your labs, even though we start the practical in lab. We call them practicals because they are set up to mimic real world jobs/applications. As with most real world situations, you would be working with code others generated and interacting with a large code base, working on specific tasks assigned to you by your employer. You will have four practicals throughout the semester. Every practical has two parts to it.
- Coding
The coding section is hard, and meant to take nearly the full two weeks! You need to start right away, and work through it in sections. Testing frequently is essential, as writing the entire code base at once is a recipe for disaster. It is worth 8 points (essentially two labs) - Reflection
The reflection is essentially free points for completing it. Research shows reflecting upon projects afterwards helps you retain memory and improve upon future projects. With that said, we read every reflection, so you have to put in a real reflection, or you risk 0 points.
These practicals are some of the hardest things you will do in this class. They are meant to be hard, but are only a small part of your grade.
Accommodation Window / Resubmissions
For accommodations, the resubmission window takes into account most accommodations as it
will allow anywhere from 3 days to 15 weeks of extra time. While the expected time
is the due date in Canvas, we understand that everyone can occasionally need accommodations,
so having this resubmission window helps show competency at your own rate.
Exams
You have three Unit Exams throughout the semester. Each assessment is made up of two components: Coding Exam and Proctored Exam.
Coding Exam
The coding exam is a lab in which you have a single submission attempt. This means you have to make sure you test thoroughly and know the code is correct before submitting for grading.
Proctored Exam
The proctored exam is exactly what you would assume for a class exam. It is cumulative and taken in a proctored environment.
Accommodation Window / Resubmissions
As the coding exam and proctored exam are meant to be formative, you may request an additional attempt. However, before
an additional attempt will be granted, you must first show 100% on all knowledge checks and readings
leading up to that assignment (i.e. the units before) and 80% on all the labs. This informs us
that you have gone back and studied for the exam, and not just playing the odds on randomly assigned questions
(yes, exams are different for everyone).
Summative Assessments
This course focuses on mastery of the topic, your summative (final) assessment is your opportunity to demonstrate that mastery. This category involves your final assessments in each major area and is a major reflection of your grade.
Practical Project 5
This is a large project that involves multiple files you must put together from scratch. It is a challenge, but students often say it is one of the more rewarding achievements in the course. You will have ten (10) submission attempts, and the project is notably hard.
Course Reflection
Reflective writing is valuable to help you retain information and better categorize what you learned. Students are asked to write a short reflection as a “do or don’t” style assignment.
U-Behavior and Retrieval Practice Activities (RPAs)
Knowledge Checks, also known as retrieval practice activities, will be used in this course to encourage spaced retrieval practice. Students are required to put away their notes and attempt to actively recall the information on each Knowledge Check. As you will learn, spacing out and mixing up your practice and attempting to recall information is best for long-term learning. Full points will be awarded if students demonstrate that they spaced and mixed their practice. Spaced and interleaved practice will be documented in individual RPA graphs. RPA graphs will be discussed in class.
Topic Mastery
As a way to track mastery of topics, we reserve the option to add additional assignments based on your performance on previous assignments. The goal of these assignments is to encourage mastery of topics. Grading for the additional assignments will be factored into the total for the category, thus increasing your overall grade for that area and reducing the impact of previous performance.
Course Workload Expectations
You are expected to work every night on this class due to daily assignment due dates. This is to encourage good study habits and the importance of repetition. As it is a 4 credit course with a lab, you should expect to spend 12-16 hours a week for a standard semester (or 24-32 hrs weekly for an 8 week) completing content in this course. However, this varies greatly based on the path you take when solving problems.